Jim remembered that we had brought a cheap camera with us to use as a back-up and had it packed away downstairs. He had come across the camera when he was trying to find our program disks for our computers after they both pooped out on us. So, Jim made a second trip in to the storage closet and dug out the camera. He put new batteries in it and it wouldn’t work either.
I’m beginning to think that one of two things is happening here. Either our electronics are not fans of the tropics or one of Satan’s minions is doing everything he can to keep us from sharing with you what we are doing here. Either way, it’s been an extremely frustrating month as far as our electronics go. In spite of those frustrations, or maybe because of them, we have been so grateful to experience God’s hand of provision once again.
Knowing what we had planned for later in the day and knowing we wanted pictures, we made the decision to go buy a cheap digital camera to get us by until we are able to buy a better one while we’re home in the States. Almost two years in to living here in Nicaragua and I still can suffer sticker shock. There is no such thing as a “cheap” digital camera to be had in Managua…at least not that we found. We finally found a camera at the shopping mall at Metro Centro at La Curacao. This is a chain of small furniture, appliance and electronics stores and we decided to go in there almost as a last ditch kind of thing. We had already gone in to every other store in the mall that might possibly carry cameras. Most didn’t but the few that did were high dollar for mediocre quality.
We have bought other things there such as our mattress and Danelia’s sewing machine. When we walked in, the same salesgirl that helped us with Danelia’s machine, came to wait on us. She remembered us and even remembered what we had bought. We told her what we wanted and after looking at a couple of kind of pricey cameras, I asked her if there wasn’t anything cheaper. I explained why and she showed us the cheapest camera she had. We decided that if there was anything less expensive anywhere, we would probably spend the difference in gas and time just trying to track it down. So, we are now the proud owners of a little Vivitar point-and-shoot and we are back in the snapshot business once again!
Before we left to go home, we grabbed a quick lunch at the Food Court…a $5 special at Pizza Hut. Two pieces of pizza apiece and two sodas. That’s my kind of deal. We had our choice of ham (which is thinly sliced lunch meat type ham), pepperoni or Hawaiian. That’s all that’s offered there. Jim chose the pepperoni and I opted for the ham. I had a few more small squares of ham than Jim did with his 3 pepperoni slices on each piece but his slices were thicker than my ham. Using that as my gauge, I figured the Hawaiian pizza probably just had some pineapple juice drizzled across it. But even though the pizza pieces were somewhat meat-deprived, it was a cheap lunch and we had enough money left to buy two small macadamia cookies each for dessert! We just overlooked the fact that the $5.00 special actually was $5.93 thanks to a really lousy exchange rate but even so, it was still a cheap lunch!
After lunch, we hurried home to get things ready for what was to be a really fun day with the kids at CINAFE. It was our first “Project Day” with them. The plan is that every Friday afternoon, we are going to try to do something fun or crafty with the kids. It may be something as simple as just playing games with them, like Jenga or such or something more involved like building planters, which we did Friday. Most of the time, it will probably be something in between the two.
I had planned on having the six older girls in my group and we were going to do a craft. I had everything ready for them to make a mosaic-look foam cross with glittered colored pieces of foam when Jim and I decided to go ahead and have the older girls with the younger kids so that we would go through each step of building the boxes just one time.
Jim had bought all the wood earlier in the week, had it cut to size and then he pre-drilled all the holes so that it would be easier for the kids to nail the pieces together. He purchased enough so that each of the three casitas would have its own planter. The wood is a very rough cut pine which was all that was available and it wasn’t yet completely dried which made the wood even heavier than it would have been otherwise. Even though it's a lesser quality, it's more expensive than wood we could buy in the States. I’m not sure how these 1’ x 4’ planter boxes are going to look to anyone else by this time next year, but I’m sure all of us will think they’re absolutely beautiful!
Jim got the paintbrushes and had our neighborhood paint store mix up the paint for us - 2 quarts of each color – white, green, yellow, red and blue. Even though oil-based paint would hold up better, we opted for water-based paint since it was going to be used by the kids and we figured the clean-up operation might be extensive…it was!
When we got to the center, some of the kids were already outside playing. Jim and Miguel (aka Chavez – he’s one of the security guards) began to unload the wood. We brought our hammer and borrowed two of the center’s. Of course, all the activity drew the kids like magnets. When they realized they were going to be building planters, they were so excited.
Jim placed the pieces for each planter in to three different piles and the kids immediately divided up in to their groups and each group claimed a stack of boards. Each group received their hammer and a handful of nails. Jim took the group of kids, ages 10 and 11, known as the Delfines – the Dolphins. Their casita has a dolphin painted on the front of it. Miguel took the youngest group of kids
, ages 6 through 9, known as the Arco Iris – the Rainbow. Chipita took her group of girls. She is one of the housemothers of the oldest group of girls, ages 12 through 15. They are known as the Estrellas or the Stars. I personally think the name fits. Those girls are all shining stars in my book.
Jim reviewed a few safety rules with the kids and t
hen before he was even able to hit his first nail, the kids in the other groups were filling the air with the sound of hammering. They had a ball. The planters are heavy but the kids managed to wrestle them around and get all their nails in. It didn’t take long for them to learn that if they didn’t hit the nails squarely on 
the head, then they would bend and it would add not only to their effort to straighten them out but also to their time in getting their boxes completed. I think there was some competition going on there!
When the kids finished the construction of their boxes, Jim then brought out two of our old shower curtains and s
ome large black trash bags. We put them under the boxes and then it was time to paint. Even though we had told Oliver, the on-site doctor, that the kids would need to wear old clothes, we decided to bring a box of the trash bags with us. I cut a neck hole and two arm holes in one and slipped it over Reina's head. Of course, almost all the kids decided they needed one and with only one pair of sharp scissors on site, quality gave way to expedie
ncy. The idea was that the kids would slip them over their clothes and that it would protect their clothes from the paint. That was the idea. And for the mos
t part, they served their purpose. But a child intent on making full body contact with white paint is going to get the job done.
Jim had not anticipated the fact that the kids would all want to paint on their boxes at the same time so they were forced to take turns. This was a source of frustration for several of the children but it was also a good lesson in sharing and taking turns. And everyone had their opportunity. Some voluntarily gave up their brushes while others had to be gently reminded that it was time to pass their brush on. Even little 2 year old Belen wanted in on the action!
By the time they finished with their umpteenth coat of white paint on the boxes, it was time for us to clean up and go. We told the kids the boxes needed to be completely dry before they could paint their designs on them so they will complete them next Friday. Some want to paint flowers, some want animals, some just want to get in to that colored paint! All seem to be excited about their project.
We also plan on having dirt, plants and seeds available next Friday. Jim and Oliver are going to go buy the seeds and soil on Tuesday and after the kids have painted their boxes, we’ll have them plant them. We’re going to do some flowers and a vegetable or two in each box and talk about how God’s Word grows in us when we properly prepare the “soil” of our hearts. This is going to be one of our on-going object lessons about growing our faith. We’re hoping they will take care of the plants while we’re in the States but if they don’t, there will be a good lesson there, as well. If we don’t nurture our faith, feeding it from God’s Word on a regular basis, it can dry up and die. So, whatever we find when we get back, I know God will help us use it in working with the children.
The kids were terrific. For the most part, they all worked well together. They took turns, they encouraged one another and they had fun doing it. Even the adults had to occasionally join in on the fun. There was a lot of laughter and a countless number of smiles. Each time one of us would praise the kids for the great job they were doing, those smiles would grow even wider.
Knowing what we had planned for later in the day and knowing we wanted pictures, we made the decision to go buy a cheap digital camera to get us by until we are able to buy a better one while we’re home in the States. Almost two years in to living here in Nicaragua and I still can suffer sticker shock. There is no such thing as a “cheap” digital camera to be had in Managua…at least not that we found. We finally found a camera at the shopping mall at Metro Centro at La Curacao. This is a chain of small furniture, appliance and electronics stores and we decided to go in there almost as a last ditch kind of thing. We had already gone in to every other store in the mall that might possibly carry cameras. Most didn’t but the few that did were high dollar for mediocre quality.
We have bought other things there such as our mattress and Danelia’s sewing machine. When we walked in, the same salesgirl that helped us with Danelia’s machine, came to wait on us. She remembered us and even remembered what we had bought. We told her what we wanted and after looking at a couple of kind of pricey cameras, I asked her if there wasn’t anything cheaper. I explained why and she showed us the cheapest camera she had. We decided that if there was anything less expensive anywhere, we would probably spend the difference in gas and time just trying to track it down. So, we are now the proud owners of a little Vivitar point-and-shoot and we are back in the snapshot business once again!
Before we left to go home, we grabbed a quick lunch at the Food Court…a $5 special at Pizza Hut. Two pieces of pizza apiece and two sodas. That’s my kind of deal. We had our choice of ham (which is thinly sliced lunch meat type ham), pepperoni or Hawaiian. That’s all that’s offered there. Jim chose the pepperoni and I opted for the ham. I had a few more small squares of ham than Jim did with his 3 pepperoni slices on each piece but his slices were thicker than my ham. Using that as my gauge, I figured the Hawaiian pizza probably just had some pineapple juice drizzled across it. But even though the pizza pieces were somewhat meat-deprived, it was a cheap lunch and we had enough money left to buy two small macadamia cookies each for dessert! We just overlooked the fact that the $5.00 special actually was $5.93 thanks to a really lousy exchange rate but even so, it was still a cheap lunch!
After lunch, we hurried home to get things ready for what was to be a really fun day with the kids at CINAFE. It was our first “Project Day” with them. The plan is that every Friday afternoon, we are going to try to do something fun or crafty with the kids. It may be something as simple as just playing games with them, like Jenga or such or something more involved like building planters, which we did Friday. Most of the time, it will probably be something in between the two.
I had planned on having the six older girls in my group and we were going to do a craft. I had everything ready for them to make a mosaic-look foam cross with glittered colored pieces of foam when Jim and I decided to go ahead and have the older girls with the younger kids so that we would go through each step of building the boxes just one time.
Jim had bought all the wood earlier in the week, had it cut to size and then he pre-drilled all the holes so that it would be easier for the kids to nail the pieces together. He purchased enough so that each of the three casitas would have its own planter. The wood is a very rough cut pine which was all that was available and it wasn’t yet completely dried which made the wood even heavier than it would have been otherwise. Even though it's a lesser quality, it's more expensive than wood we could buy in the States. I’m not sure how these 1’ x 4’ planter boxes are going to look to anyone else by this time next year, but I’m sure all of us will think they’re absolutely beautiful!
Jim got the paintbrushes and had our neighborhood paint store mix up the paint for us - 2 quarts of each color – white, green, yellow, red and blue. Even though oil-based paint would hold up better, we opted for water-based paint since it was going to be used by the kids and we figured the clean-up operation might be extensive…it was!
When we got to the center, some of the kids were already outside playing. Jim and Miguel (aka Chavez – he’s one of the security guards) began to unload the wood. We brought our hammer and borrowed two of the center’s. Of course, all the activity drew the kids like magnets. When they realized they were going to be building planters, they were so excited.
Jim placed the pieces for each planter in to three different piles and the kids immediately divided up in to their groups and each group claimed a stack of boards. Each group received their hammer and a handful of nails. Jim took the group of kids, ages 10 and 11, known as the Delfines – the Dolphins. Their casita has a dolphin painted on the front of it. Miguel took the youngest group of kids
, ages 6 through 9, known as the Arco Iris – the Rainbow. Chipita took her group of girls. She is one of the housemothers of the oldest group of girls, ages 12 through 15. They are known as the Estrellas or the Stars. I personally think the name fits. Those girls are all shining stars in my book. Jim reviewed a few safety rules with the kids and t
hen before he was even able to hit his first nail, the kids in the other groups were filling the air with the sound of hammering. They had a ball. The planters are heavy but the kids managed to wrestle them around and get all their nails in. It didn’t take long for them to learn that if they didn’t hit the nails squarely on 
the head, then they would bend and it would add not only to their effort to straighten them out but also to their time in getting their boxes completed. I think there was some competition going on there!When the kids finished the construction of their boxes, Jim then brought out two of our old shower curtains and s
ome large black trash bags. We put them under the boxes and then it was time to paint. Even though we had told Oliver, the on-site doctor, that the kids would need to wear old clothes, we decided to bring a box of the trash bags with us. I cut a neck hole and two arm holes in one and slipped it over Reina's head. Of course, almost all the kids decided they needed one and with only one pair of sharp scissors on site, quality gave way to expedie
ncy. The idea was that the kids would slip them over their clothes and that it would protect their clothes from the paint. That was the idea. And for the mos
t part, they served their purpose. But a child intent on making full body contact with white paint is going to get the job done.Jim had not anticipated the fact that the kids would all want to paint on their boxes at the same time so they were forced to take turns. This was a source of frustration for several of the children but it was also a good lesson in sharing and taking turns. And everyone had their opportunity. Some voluntarily gave up their brushes while others had to be gently reminded that it was time to pass their brush on. Even little 2 year old Belen wanted in on the action!
By the time they finished with their umpteenth coat of white paint on the boxes, it was time for us to clean up and go. We told the kids the boxes needed to be completely dry before they could paint their designs on them so they will complete them next Friday. Some want to paint flowers, some want animals, some just want to get in to that colored paint! All seem to be excited about their project.
We also plan on having dirt, plants and seeds available next Friday. Jim and Oliver are going to go buy the seeds and soil on Tuesday and after the kids have painted their boxes, we’ll have them plant them. We’re going to do some flowers and a vegetable or two in each box and talk about how God’s Word grows in us when we properly prepare the “soil” of our hearts. This is going to be one of our on-going object lessons about growing our faith. We’re hoping they will take care of the plants while we’re in the States but if they don’t, there will be a good lesson there, as well. If we don’t nurture our faith, feeding it from God’s Word on a regular basis, it can dry up and die. So, whatever we find when we get back, I know God will help us use it in working with the children.
The kids were terrific. For the most part, they all worked well together. They took turns, they encouraged one another and they had fun doing it. Even the adults had to occasionally join in on the fun. There was a lot of laughter and a countless number of smiles. Each time one of us would praise the kids for the great job they were doing, those smiles would grow even wider.
I thought about how we all love to hear words of praise…our hearts long for affirmation. It's such an easy thing to give and yet it seems to be something that is so lacking. Maybe if we each were more intentional in the giving of it, we might surprised at how much of it we would receive in return.
I was glad I was the project photographer as I had the opportunity to give that praise to each one of the kids. I was also able to observe them and how they reacted to their various challenges like learning a new skill, taking instruction, exercising self-restraint, sharing, assisting, encouraging…they were wonderful!
One of the things that touched me the most is when we were cleaning up. Unbeknownst to us, Aida, one of the older girls, had cleaned her group’s brushes of paint. Aida is one of the girls I’ve been spending some time with. I’m never sure what kind of mood I’m going to find her in. All teen-age girls can be moody – that’s no secret. But these girls have so much negative history that they have to overcome that their moodiness has an added dimension to it.
Aida and I often work on her English homework together and she had me help her with her math the other day. She obviously doesn’t know that math is not one of my best subjects. But thankfully, she’s still at a level where I understand what she’s doing!
When Aida handed the cleaned brushes to me, I was shocked. We hadn’t asked the kids to clean their brushes as we were more concerned with them cleaning themselves! Jim and I had just planned on taking the paint laden brushes home with us and cleaning them ourselves. My surprise and pleasure were evident and Aida smiled the most beautiful smile when I thanked her for doing that. She told me I was welcome and then quickly hurried off.
Just as we were loading the last of our items in the car, Aida came back with the remaining 4 brushes. She had gone and collected them from the other kids and had scrubbed them spotless! I was even more surprised and pleased the second time. I called Jim’s name and showed him what Aida had done. He thanked her and told her what a great job she had done. I was so glad…the bristles on the brushes went every which way but Jim acted like it was perfect. And you know what? It was! I think that was Aida's way to thank us for providing the planters for them. I put my arm around her, gave her a quick hug and thanked her again. I felt her stiffen a little but I didn’t act like I noticed. We finished loading the car and then told everyone good-bye. I'm pretty sure we’re all looking forward to next Friday.
When we got home, Jim put the pictures on the computer so I could see how they looked. The new camera does what it’s supposed to do. The pictures of the kids working on their planter boxes are fine. I only wish it could have captured their laughter and the sparkle in their eyes. That’s what made it so much fun for us. To mimic a popular television commercial: Digital camera - $100. Lunch special - $5. The children’s joy – priceless. It was a good day.
One of the things that touched me the most is when we were cleaning up. Unbeknownst to us, Aida, one of the older girls, had cleaned her group’s brushes of paint. Aida is one of the girls I’ve been spending some time with. I’m never sure what kind of mood I’m going to find her in. All teen-age girls can be moody – that’s no secret. But these girls have so much negative history that they have to overcome that their moodiness has an added dimension to it.
Aida and I often work on her English homework together and she had me help her with her math the other day. She obviously doesn’t know that math is not one of my best subjects. But thankfully, she’s still at a level where I understand what she’s doing!
When Aida handed the cleaned brushes to me, I was shocked. We hadn’t asked the kids to clean their brushes as we were more concerned with them cleaning themselves! Jim and I had just planned on taking the paint laden brushes home with us and cleaning them ourselves. My surprise and pleasure were evident and Aida smiled the most beautiful smile when I thanked her for doing that. She told me I was welcome and then quickly hurried off.
Just as we were loading the last of our items in the car, Aida came back with the remaining 4 brushes. She had gone and collected them from the other kids and had scrubbed them spotless! I was even more surprised and pleased the second time. I called Jim’s name and showed him what Aida had done. He thanked her and told her what a great job she had done. I was so glad…the bristles on the brushes went every which way but Jim acted like it was perfect. And you know what? It was! I think that was Aida's way to thank us for providing the planters for them. I put my arm around her, gave her a quick hug and thanked her again. I felt her stiffen a little but I didn’t act like I noticed. We finished loading the car and then told everyone good-bye. I'm pretty sure we’re all looking forward to next Friday.
When we got home, Jim put the pictures on the computer so I could see how they looked. The new camera does what it’s supposed to do. The pictures of the kids working on their planter boxes are fine. I only wish it could have captured their laughter and the sparkle in their eyes. That’s what made it so much fun for us. To mimic a popular television commercial: Digital camera - $100. Lunch special - $5. The children’s joy – priceless. It was a good day.
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